Stand Of Honor (24 page)

"I always knew a lot of people in the cartel.
When you lived in my neighborhood, you were surrounded by people either doing drugs or people trying to recruit you into selling the drugs," Zane finally started to speak. "I was able to avoid both. I beat the shit out of the few kids that tried to get me involved. I had watched my mother abuse drugs ever since my father died, and I vowed to never have anything to do with it."

Melanie tried to hide her surprise.
She knew Zane's mom was always sickly, although Melanie had always believed she had been more of a hypochondriac. She didn't realize she was doing drugs, as well as being addicted to pain pills. Melanie wondered if she died of a drug overdose.

Zane continued
, "After they finally left me alone, things were okay. I kept my distance, and as long as I didn't try to interrupt their dealings, we didn't have any problems. Considering my mother was a buyer, they figured they were already getting money from me anyway.”

"Then the thing with Matthew happened.
I did what I could to hide the fact that Nick had done it, but the cartel knew everything. When the little brother of the drug lord dies, there will always be payback. My friends in the cartel told me they were going after Nick and his family."

Melanie gasped.
She never would have known how much danger they were in.

"Nick was the closest thing to a brother I would ever have
, and Rex was like a father. I wanted to protect you all. My contacts told me when the hit was planned, and I knew I had to find a way to stop them."

Melanie tightened her grip on his hand
, enthralled with the story he was telling.

"There was a competing drug lord in the next neighborhood.
There was supposed to be an understanding between them to stay out of each other's territory. Dragon wanted that territory and knew if he could somehow get to their leader, Marco, he could take over and triple his income. I thought if I could give Dragon what he wanted, he might leave your family alone."

Melanie thought of Zane as a
sixteen-year-old, trying to do such a scary and grown up task just to protect them. It was an unbelievable amount of pressure for someone so young. She lifted his hand up to kiss it as he continued the story.

"I found a way to get Marco and take him to Dragon."
He didn't elaborate on how he got him, and Melanie didn't ask. "I went to Dragon to make the deal. I would give him Marco in exchange for sparing your family. At first, he thought I was making it up, but when he learned I had truly had taken Marco, he agreed, then added his own condition to the deal. Not only did I have to give him Marco, I had to work for him. Dragon recognized talent when he saw it, and considering a sixteen-year-old kid had kidnapped a drug lord, I was the type of asset Dragon wanted. He warned me that if I ever tried to leave, you three would be dead."

"I don't understand
. I thought Dragon would want vengeance for his brother." Melanie still didn't understand why Dragon would let his brother's murderer get away just for another territory.

"Dragon knew that Matthew was reckless and he also knew that Matthew made the first move that day.
Like I said, the cartel knows everything. He still wanted to retaliate, but he was also aware that he couldn't bring Matthew back and was gaining so much more this way. He let me know that if I ever tried to leave, Nick was his next hit."

"From that day, Dragon sent me after anyone that tried to run from the cartel.
I did everything he told me to do, but I finally reached the point where I was done," Zane looked her in the eyes, "so he came after you."

This time Zane squeezed her hand.
"I had been trying to keep you safe, but that night, you were unprotected. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I never wanted you to be hurt."

"I'm fine
, Zane. You saved me before anything happened." Melanie wanted to reassure him. He had spent the last decade keeping her family protected. She was alive today because of him.

"What about the money
, Zane? Nick said that you were working for money. That doesn't make sense if Dragon was forcing you to work." Melanie wanted to know everything.

"Dragon had one of his men bring me the jobs in a package.
The packages would have all the information about who I was supposed to find. After a while, he started putting money in the packages. I never spoke to Dragon directly, so I don't know why he started paying me. I was good; I always recovered the money. Maybe he wanted to ensure my loyalty. I don't know.”

"I used the money to maintain an ally within the cartel.
I knew I would reach a point when it was time for me to quit, and that I had to have a plan to force Dragon to let me go." Zane took a deep breath and then continued, "I gave the rest of the money to those that needed help paying their debts to Dragon. As long as Dragon got all his money back, he usually left those people alone. If he didn't get it all back, he found ways to hurt them."

"After seeing his method of punishment, I
began attempting to help them. Dragon never knew he was being paid back with some of his own money. There were some people that were too far in debt, though." Zane looked like he was lost in the past. "I couldn't help them all."

Melanie watched the darkness and guilt in his eyes
. She reached over to hug him.

"Zane, you did what you could.
Those people knew the consequences and chose to do it anyway. They were lucky you tried to help."

He just nodded his head.
Melanie could only imagine what he had been through and what he had experienced in his life.

"It's finally over now.
I wasn't the only one that wanted Dragon dead. The others in the cartel were too afraid to kill him and are glad he's gone. They released me."

"I'm sorry it took me so
long to talk to you. I knew something wasn't adding up." Melanie took a deep breath.

N
ow for the part she was afraid to hear the answer to but had to bring up.

"
There’s one last thing; what's going on with Faye?" Melanie held her breath. He had just told her what he had been through, yet before she could ask if he wanted to start over again, and do her best to bring some joy into his life, she had to know the truth.

"Nothing.
The bitch snuck in the house and threw herself on the bed. When I came out of the bathroom and tried to pull her off the bed, she pulled me on top of her. I wasn't on her for more than two seconds." She could hear the frustration in Zane's voice and decided she believed him.

“
She was really here for some money she had stashed away in an old vase. It was money she had put away from the set up."

Melanie decided to keep the fight between her and Faye quiet for now. She knew Faye wanted him back for
herself, not just for the money. Zane would be impossible to replace and that was what Melanie was sure Faye had found out too late. She wasn’t about to make the same mistake.

"Oh
, Zane, I'm so sorry about everything," Melanie whispered as she leaned in to kiss him. This time, he kissed her back.

The kiss quickly deepened and she felt the desire course through her body.
She moaned and moved to straddle him. When he grabbed a handful of her hair as he thrust his tongue deeper into her mouth, she slid her hands under his t-shirt and felt the ripples of muscles under her fingertips.

She leaned back to pull his t-shirt over his head and looked down at his sexy body.
She rubbed her hands across his chest, glancing up to see the passion in his eyes. They gazed into each other's eyes and no words were necessary to describe the emotions between them. He reached around to hold her as he stood up from the couch. She wrapped her arms and legs around him as he carried her down the hall into his bedroom.

He gently placed her on the bed and
then bent down to pull her shoes off. He then stood up to take off the rest of her clothes, tossing them aside before reaching down to take his shorts and underwear off. As soon as he sprang free, she could see how hard he was.

As she looked up at him, she wanted to tell him how much she loved him, but they hadn't said those words yet.
She knew it wouldn't be much longer before she said them out loud.

He leaned down to push her up on the pillows and
then covered her with his hard body. She wrapped her legs around him as he kissed her along her jawline and up to her ear. She jumped when he licked his tongue across her, feeling her body shiver at his touch.

She ran her hands down his back and grasped his ass as he continued to kiss her
slowly down her body. He gave her nipples equal attention, starting with one then moving to the other. She held his head to her breast while he massaged her other breast.

He
then left a trail of kisses down her stomach as he worked his way to her clit, sliding a finger inside of her as his tongue worked around her nub. She thrust her hips upwards and felt his finger slide deeper inside of her.

When
she started to pant and moan even louder, he lifted up, covering her body with his own, and entered her with one smooth stroke. She looked up at him as he continued to slide slowly in and out of her. She started pulling him deeper inside. His dick was the perfect fit for her, and she realized she never wanted to be with anyone else again. She belonged with him.

He stayed inside her as he leaned in to kiss her as he made love to her.
This was the closest she had ever felt to him while having sex. There was always so much passion and desire between them. They often both lost control of themselves during sex and usually went at it pretty hard. However, this was a softer side of sex that they hadn't yet experienced. She reached around him to hold him tightly as they moved slowly together.

Zane turned them over while keeping his dick inside of her, putting himself on his back and her on top.
He grasped her hips and pushed her up and down on his cock. She got the hint and started riding him, moving up and down then rotating in little circles. She was pleased to hear him moan as she rode him. She started lifting herself higher and could hear the wetness with each slip. He thrust his dick upwards when she slid down him, enhancing the feeling inside of her.

He was so far inside of her
that she started feeling herself lose control, riding him even harder. He grabbed her hips again and started pounding his dick up into her as she slammed down on him. She felt herself coming at the same time he began climaxing inside her.

She stayed on top of him a little longer, enjoying the feel of his warm
th inside of her. He rubbed the top of her legs as they looked at each other.

"I love you
, Zane." There, she’d finally said it. It was such a relief.

"I love you
, too," he replied.

Melanie could see the truth of his words in his eyes.
She knew she was the only one that would see this softer side of him, and that saying those words were significant for him. Zane wasn't one to put himself out there to be hurt.

She heaved a deep sigh of relief
, and when he laughed at her reaction, she grabbed one of the pillows and pretended to smother him. He lay there and continued to laugh. She took the pillow off his face and put it next to him before pushing off him and lying down next to him, putting an arm and leg on top of him.

"By the way, you owe me
two hundred fifty dollars," Zane told her.

"What the hell for?"

"For busting my tail light and for the ticket I got when
I went after you that night."

Melanie burst out laughing.
"You got a ticket?"

"Yeah.
The cop even knew who I was and wished me good luck on my next fight, but he still gave me the fucking ticket."

"That's hilarious," Melanie giggled.

"You think that's funny, huh?"

Melanie continued to laugh as she nodded her head.
Zane reached over and smacked her ass.

"Ouch!" Melanie whined,
however she couldn't keep herself from laughing again.

Zane reached over to wipe the tears of laughter with his thumb.

"I'm glad you think it's so funny, but I'm going to have to find a way to get you back," Zane threatened her.

"I'm scared,"
Melanie mocked him.

"You should be," Zane growled as he climbed back on top of her.

Chapter 26

The morning before her fight with Macey, Melanie was going through some light drills with Zane when they heard the door open. The gym was closed for the day because Zane wanted to concentrate on giving Melanie some last minute pointers, so they weren’t expecting anyone.

W
hen they looked toward the door, they saw Nick walking towards them with a determined expression. Melanie knew that look well. Nick was a fighter; he didn’t hide from confrontations, he sought them out. She looked at Zane for his reaction—his I-don’t-give-a-damn expression was already plastered across his face.